This invention relates to elliptical footballs, and more specifically to a soft, lightweight, easier handling and safer football.
Oval footballs must be gripped lengthwise to be thrown correctly, which may be difficult for those with small hands. Conventional football lacing is often inadequate for a grip. Several prior art football designs improve handling with surface texturing or spiral ribs, which may also stabilize spinning passes.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,931,429, spiral grooves in an inflatable leather football are filled flush with an abrasive compound to increase surface friction. U.S. Pat. No. 2,194,674 describes a football with spiral cords wound around a "rubberized canvas carcass", which is inflated by a bladder, wherein the cords project through a leather casing to form ribs. An inflatable football is described in Canadian patent No. 578,533 with diagonal ribs (FIG. 10 of Canadian patent) for enhanced gripping similar to that described above in U.S. Pat. No. 2,194,674. U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,466 describes a molded plastic football with an axial air passage, straight grooves outside, and weights inside to stabilize flight trajectories. These inflatable leather covered or molded plastic footballs are heavy, hard, and unsatisfactory for childrens' use.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,119,618 describes a football with subsurface sponge padding which compresses for a better grip. U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,918 describes a solid football with a core of soft polyester batting and a plastic casing including simulated lacing to assist gripping.
Solid foam rubber, or "NERF" type footballs, for example the Model 777 Cosom football, are softer, lighter, and easier to grip and throw. These footballs do not gain the momentum to travel as far as conventional inflatable footballs, and, thus, minimize the risk of injury or property damage.